Rock'em Sock'em
by amsrule
Summary: Audrey and Nathan get invited to a party at the Grey Gull. What could go wrong when you combine Rock'em Sock'em Robots, alcohol, and sexual tension? Goes AU sometime early season 2, not too many spoilers, mainly fluff for now but we'll see where it goes.
1. Chapter 1

"There's Haven's best detective, the only policeman I've ever liked. Police woman? Whatever."

Audrey sighed, looking up from the spread of files on Nathan's desk to find Duke Crocker leaning against the office's entryway.

"What do you want, Duke?" she asked, resting her hand on her hip.

He eyed her and stretched out his legs, showing off his full 6 foot 2 height. "What, I can't just stop by for a visit?"

She pursed her lips. "No, not really."

"How'd you get in trouble this time?" Nathan piped up from his spot beside her. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "And no, we're not going to bail you out."

Duke frowned and clasped his hands over his chest. "Your lack of confidence wounds me." He pushed off the door jamb and sauntered into the room, up to the front of the desk. "I just came to invite Haven's finest to my little shindig at the Grey Gull tonight—in a non-official capacity of course."

"What's the occasion?" Nathan asked.

The other man shrugged. "Do I need an occasion? If you must know, Mr. Creighton came in and asked me about doing a fundraiser for the firefighters after they've done so much these past couple weeks. I figured, why not?"

Audrey chuckled and her body relaxed slightly. She lowered her hand onto Nathan's shoulder instinctually but after Duke's eyes tracked the movement, she stepped back and detached herself from her partner. "So what's the fundraiser?"

"Rock'em Sock'em Robots." He announced proudly.

Nathan's eyebrows furrowed. "Rock'em Sock'em Robots? Is that even still around? I haven't played that in years. Not that I ever played it well in the first place." He laid his arms out on the desk and stared at them dejectedly.

"Rock'em Sock'em Robots. Got it. Okay. And?"

Duke guffawed. "And… that's it? We'll have the full menu, full bar, loud music—it'll be tons of fun and I just wanted to make sure you'll be there."

Audrey shook her head, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder. "I don't know, Duke."

"Come on, you deserve to take a break from all the hard work you do and have some fun once in a while."

She sighed. "But…"

"Ah ah ah!" Duke interrupted. "No buts. I fully expect to see you there. I'll even buy your first drink, alright? Something alcoholic." He pointed at her for a few seconds and then turned around to leave. He walked out of the office, paused, and turned back. "I expect to see you there too, tin man." He gave Nathan a quick wink and then walked off.

Once he was out of sight, Audrey turned around and perched herself on the edge of her partner's desk. "So, a fundraiser…"

"I wonder why we're just now hearing of this. Doesn't he have to get a permit or something?"

The blonde sighed and placed her hand over his. "Just let him go." She paused. "Are you gunna be there?"

Nathan glanced down at the files, and their joined hands, and then looked back up at his partner. "Are you going to?"

She shrugged. "I hate to say this, but he was kind of right, maybe we do need a break. Plus, things have been quiet today, now it's the weekend. Lucy research can wait." She tapped her index finger on the files. "When's the last time we just went out for a drink?"

"Fair enough." Nathan said, reaching out to close the folders. "Plus, it is for a good cause."

"Exactly, so we have to go."

* * *

We're starting off kinda short and quick for now, as you can see. But more is coming very soon. Please review and let me know what you think and inspire me to keep going!


	2. Chapter 2

Audrey was standing in front of a long mirror, smoothing a hand over the front of her blouse, when a loud knock rapped on her door.

"Just a moment!" she called out. She checked over the outfit once more and was still unsatisfied. Something looked off. With a huff, she retucked the hem of the top into her tight black pencil skirt. There. That looked better.

"Audrey?"

A small smile flitted across her face. She hadn't been expecting him to show up at her apartment before they met up at the bar, but then again it didn't surprise her.

She ran her hands through her hair once to tousle the soft waves and then turned away from the mirror. She reached down and slid her feet into her black ankle boots.

Through the sheer curtain over the glass door, Audrey could see him raise his arm again to knock. She strode over to the door and pulled it open just in time. She opened her mouth to greet him froze.

Gone were the grey Henley and blue canvas jacked she had seen him in earlier that day. Now he was wearing a form fitting black t shirt and a dark leather jacket.

"Hey Nathan," she forced out. She watched his eyes scan her form a couple of times and felt her cheeks flush.

It was a few seconds before his eyes jumped up to meet hers and he responded, "Hey, Parker. Uhh… Audrey. You look… very nice."

Audrey looked down at the deep blue ruffled top she was wearing. It was a richer color and a thinner, sheerer material than she usually wore. She'd grabbed it from the local consignment shop a few months ago on impulse but it had sat on the back of her close unneeded until now, when she'd decided to give it a chance. She still worried it didn't look quite right on her. "This isn't too much?"

Immediately, her partner shook his head. "No, no. It looks great, really." He couldn't stop staring. The top really brought out the blue of her eyes and it looked great against her pale skin and it ever so slightly hugged her curves and then that skirt—Nathan reached up and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck as he pushed the errant thoughts away.

"Well thanks." She responded slowly. "You don't look too bad yourself. Where'd you get that jacket?" She reached out and touched the lapel, feeling how smooth it was.

Nathan looked down at her hand, torn between nervously pushing her away and pulling her closer so that he might actually feel her skin against his. He settled for grabbing her hand in his, simultaneously moving her away from where she was kind of stroking his chest while still achieving that skin to skin contact. "I've had it for a while," he explained, "Just don't wear it much."

The blonde smiled. "Well maybe you should wear it more often, stud." She winked at him and then glanced at the wall clock next to the door. "Should we go?" He nodded. "Alright, give me just a second." She slid her hand from his, both of them instantly mourning the loss of contact, and then walked over to the couch. She grabbed a small black purse, checked its contents, and then reached down to surreptitiously check her hidden thigh holster. A cop was never without her gun, even if they were off duty, she had learned.

Audrey turned around and walked back over to her partner. He backed out of the doorway and she followed, shutting and locking the door behind her. Nathan gestured for her to lead the way, so she did. She walked around the wooden deck and down the stairs. She could already hear the loud beat of the music bursting from the restaurant.

There were both perks and drawbacks to living above the Grey Gull. For one, it helped that she was good friends with her landlord—he tended to be a bit lenient about the rent and was always more than willing to fix any problem that came up. However, she also had to deal with his loud, raucous parties frequently, and sometimes they even kept her up at night. While she wasn't much of a party-type (partially because of her profession) she did enjoy a light drink now and then. Duke always made pretty good cocktails. Plus, she didn't have to worry about a designated driver because she lived right upstairs.

"Does this noise ever bother you?" Nathan inquired as they approached the door.

Audrey shrugged. "Occasionally. This is one of the loudest parties in a while, though, so it should be interesting."

The moment they walked into the Grey Gull, they were greeted by an enthusiastic Duke. "Well lookie here, the most beautiful woman in town has graced my little ole' establishment with her magnificent presence."

"Duke, stop." She pleaded.

He waved her off. "Welcome to tonight's fundraiser. Can I get you a drink?" he sidled up next to Audrey. "Gin and tonic, glass of wine, classic margarita?"

'Go big or go home.' Audrey thought before she responded. "How about something tall, strong, and fruity?"

"Tall, strong, and fruity, coming right up. And a beer for the tin man." He scrambled off to the bar.

Nathan gaped for a moment, and then sighed. "Does he really have to call me that?"

Audrey chuckled. "He's just playing around, you know that."

"He's been 'playing around' for years." He grumbled.

"Relax Nathan. Let it go and just have some fun tonight, please." She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him forward through the throngs of people.

A large crowd had already gathered. They were all standing around talking and drinking. Some of the younger and drunker ones were dancing in the far corner of the room. A couple Rock'em Sock'em Robots toys were set out, ready for the competition. One of the firefighters, a tall brunette who's name Audrey didn't know (but wanted to) was walking around in only the bottom half of his gear, asking for donations. She slipped a couple dollars into the bucket when he walked by.

"Wanna sit?" She asked her partner, spotting a small open table.

"Sure." Nathan reached out to the table first and pulled out a chair for her. She smiled in thanks as she sat down and then he followed suit across from her.

Before they could get into awkward small talk, Duke walked up to them. He placed a tall brown bottle in front of Nathan and then handed Audrey a glass full of something pink. A green twisty straw stuck out of the top and she took a drink. It tasted like a sweet candied watermelon and it went down pretty smooth. She took another drink in approval.

"Mmm, thanks Duke."

"It's not a problem." The man in question grinned. "I just want you to have some fun tonight."

She tipped the drink in his direction. "I sure will."

With a short wave, Duke walked off.

Nathan took a swig from his bottle and leaned back in his chair. "Sooo…"

Audrey chuckled. "So what? Do you wanna get up and dance?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "Not really."

"Not drunk enough for that yet? I'll wait." She smirked.

"Never gunna happen."

She winked. "We'll see."

She couldn't help but wonder about his Trouble, though. Could he feel it when he was drunk? If he wasn't able to feel basic stimuli or even know if he was sick, then it would stand to reason that he couldn't feel the effects of being intoxicated. The only thing he could feel, for whatever reason, was her. She couldn't imagine not feeling things. She took her sense of touch for granted—the softness of her blouse against her skin, the scratch of a comb over her scalp, the icy bite of snow. And he couldn't feel any of it.

"Hey Nathan, can I ask you a question"? She spoke up after taking another drink.

He nodded. "Ayuh. Go ahead."

* * *

Thanks for reading, lovelies, and please leave a review to let me know what you think and inspire me to keep writing!


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you even feel getting drunk? Like… I know you can't feel things or people so what's the extent of your Trouble?"

In an instant, his face darkened. She regretted asking and almost took it back when he moved forward and leaned his forearms on the table. She could tell by the square of his shoulders that he had resigned himself to answer, so she sat back to let him talk.

"Yeah, well I can't feel most physical stimuli so," he placed one hand down flat on the table. "I can't feel the texture of this material or what the temperature of the table is, but I can feelit in the sense that I know there's a surface there because my hand can't go any farther. With being drunk, it's not that I don't feel it, per se, but that my brain analyzes it differently. Like, sometimes, when people are drunk, their mind and body are a bit disconnected and that's why they stumble and stuff. For me, I can't necessarily feel my limbs, but I know they're there, so movements are basic muscle memory now. So since I'm already disconnected like that, I don't feel those physical side effects." He paused to gulp down some of his beer. "But I can feel it mentally. So the slurred thoughts and bad decision making—that's all there."

"Blurry vision?"

"Ayuh."

"But no hangover headaches?"

"Thankfully, no."

Audrey stared at her partner for a few seconds and then leaned down to take a drink from the fun straw. "Well… I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to seem rude or anything by bringing it up."

He shrugged her off and took another drink. "You're fine, Parker."

"It, umm…" she leaned in closer. "It sounds like you think about it a lot."

Nathan let out a painful chuckle. "I do. Even though I've gotten used to the feeling—or, rather, the lack of feeling, I find myself analyzing every movement, you know? I always have to be careful not to overextend and run into something or to take my time eating so I don't burn myself. It's simple stuff but… I don't know… I do what I can." He finished off his drink and placed it back loudly onto the table.

'Wow, this really eats him up.' Audrey realized. She had known that he really disliked his Trouble, but she hadn't seen how deep his problems were buried within him. She frowned, trying to figure out a way to help him. It wasn't really her job to help him, and she knew that. But part of her still felt like she needed to. Jess clearly hadn't been able to, with how abruptly their relationship had ended. But could she be better for him?

She paused.

No.

It's not like she was going to be in a relationship with him. They were partners and that was it. They were also really good friends. He was her first, and best, friend in Haven. She wouldn't really admit it to him, but he meant a lot to her. So that's why she needed, wanted, to help him deal with his Trouble.

Plus, she was some kind of magic Trouble fixer, wasn't she? That's what she did in Haven—she was the Trouble problem-solver. The Trouble psychologist. She talked people down from their dangerous Troubles. So it made sense that she'd do the same for Nathan. It helped that she was already immune to the Troubles, to his Trouble. Was that the solution?

She reached out and slowly lowered her hand down onto his on the table. Staring at him, she caught the tiny, almost imperceptible, twitch in his eye. Then, just barely, his shoulders relaxed.

"What is it like when I touch you? When you feel me?" She questioned rapidly, before she could chicken out.

Nathan's light blue-green eyes locked on to hers and he seemed to see the deepest parts of her. "It's… it's almost like an explosion." He responded without looking away from her. "Or fireworks underneath my skin. It sparks and crackles… and then fades when you move away. When you don't, when the contact is intentional, longer… it settles into this calm, steady warmth, like the embers of a fire." He shrugged and glanced down at their joined hands. "It's… I don't know… It's surprising. But nice."

Audrey found herself staring at him in awe—he described it perfectly. God, she hadn't realized that he had such a way with words. It's no wonder he was obsessed with touching her. Right after he had figured out he could feel her, he had high fived and shook hands with her constantly.

"For a few seconds, I feel more real." He continued. "Duke jokingly calls me Tin Man all the time, among other things, and I hate it, but at the same time, he's right. I'm a shell, a consciousness trapped inside a body I can't feel or use or fully enjoy, and, what, does that make me a robot or something?" Audrey shook her head 'no'. "Well, it sure feels like it. But when I feel you, I exist."

'You exist?' Audrey wanted to scream out incredulously. She was the one that had multiple past lives and even currently had someone else's memories. She felt like a robot most of the time, some sort of pre-programmed android. She had always thought that it was he who grounded her, not the other way around.

Was that disconnectedness where his Trouble came from? Most of the Troubles she had encountered in Haven had some sort of cause or trigger. Was that Nathan's?

Audrey twisted her fingers tighter around his and frowned. "Do you… do you think that's where your Trouble comes from? Your emotional numbness to things?"

"What?" Nathan immediately pulled away from her, the openness on his face shutting down. He grabbed his empty bottle and stood. "Is that all you think of me as? Some Trouble? I'm not just some pity case you have to solve, Parker." He gave her a look that bordered between anger and disappointment and then stalked off.

The blonde froze, watching him walk off. That wasn't what she meant at all.

She reached out for her glass and found it empty. She must have finished it off without noticing during their conversation. That would explain the warmth that had begun to settle in her chest. Slowly, she stood up and got out of the chair. She slid through the masses of people as she made her way to the bar.

Immediately, Duke was leaning on the varnished wood surface across from her. "Can I help you?"

She handed over her glass. "Another drink. A different flavor this time—surprise me."

He raised an eyebrow at her curt tone, but started doing as she asked. He filled a tall glass with ice and poured liquor from a bunch of unmarked bottles into it. When it was finished, topped off with another swirly straw, he slid it to her.

"Have you seen Nathan?" she asked.

Duke gestured with his thumb to the side of the room, where a closed set of glass doors faced the lake and led out to the wooden deck that surrounded the building.

She lifted up the drink with a nod. "Thanks. Just put this on a tab or something for me, okay?"

Without waiting for his responding quip, Audrey turned on her heel and moved across the restaurant. She pulled open the door and stepped outside. As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, the noise level fell several decibels. She sighed in relief.

She spotted Nathan leaning against the corner railing, nursing another beer and staring intensely out at the calm water. She walked up to him and almost clasped her hand on his back before rethinking it and stopping the movement. Her hand floundered awkwardly in midair before she shoved it down against her leg.

"Hey, Nathan, listen…" She leaned her back against the railing beside him. "I didn't mean to seem like… I wasn't trying to hurt you or insinuate that you needed to be fixed or anything."

"Audrey..."

* * *

Yay for deep Naudrey discussions. Let's get some more booze into them and see what happens, shall me? Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

"No, let me finish." She stopped him swiftly. "Like I said, I wasn't trying to bring up a delicate subject or be mean. I was just curious about your Trouble. I could've been… I could've asked those questions differently. Or just not asked them, because it's really not any of my business. So I'm sorry."

Nathan shifted so that he was facing her fully. "It's fine, Audrey. I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I don't mind talking about it with you, really. Yeah, it is a delicate subject but you are my best friend in Haven, so if I'm going to talk to anyone, it's going to be you."

"Okay, well I'm still sorry. But thanks for answering my questions. I appreciate you being honest with me." Audrey leaned down and took a drink from her glass. This one was a bright green color, and tasted a bit like sour apple. Her mouth puckered a bit as she swallowed down the tart liquid. "Whew. Okay. Wow. That's intense." She took another drink before looking back up at Nathan. He had set his beer bottle—now empty it seemed—down on the railing and was staring at her, laughing quietly.

Audrey reached out and slapped his shoulder. "Shut up, don't laugh at me."

He rubbed his hand over his mouth and tried to stop, but it took a few seconds. "Alright, alright, fine." He stood up straight and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, hey, umm… what I said earlier… that wasn't weird or anything was it?"

The blonde cocked her head to the side. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked for clarification.

He shrugged. "Just… that stuff about being able to feel you? I hope that didn't sound weird or anything. I wasn't trying to sound like… you know?"

"Oh, right." Audrey responded, although she really didn't know. What was he trying to say, exactly? She didn't want to ask because she could already tell how uncomfortable he was with the conversation.

"I don't want you to feel obligated or anything, to touch me. Or to try and fix my Trouble. It's my problem, I can deal with it, so—"

"Oh, Nathan, no." She reached out and placed her hand on her partner's arm. "I definitely don't feel… obligated or anything. But I also don't mind. I know it's weird that I'm immune to the Troubles… but it must be nice to feel something, right? I'm your friend, I'm your partner. I'm whatever you need me to be, okay? As for fixing your Trouble… it's not that you need to be fixed. You are not broken, Nathan, you're afflicted. And I'm going to help however I can. Okay?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, okay. Partner. Got it." He stared at her for a second, and then shifted his eyes downward.

Audrey set her glass down on the railing next to the beer bottle and took a step closer to Nathan. "You okay, Nathan?" She rubbed her hand up and down on his arm. His hand fell out of his pocket and she swiftly took it in her own. "Nathan?"

He lifted his head up, his blue green eyes piercing hers. He reached up with his other hand and slowly ran the back of his fingers along her jawline. "Is this okay?" His voice sounded deeper, more husky, as if it were fraught with emotion.

She managed to fit a small smile on her face as she tried to figure out what he was doing. "Yeah," she murmured. She could feel her heart beating fast in her chest, over the whoosh of the wind over the water.

Nathan leaned in toward her and used his grip on her face to tilt her head upward. He moved at what felt like snail's pace. He was extremely nervous about being there alone with her, but at the same time he had the intense desire to kiss her. Luckily, she started leaning toward him too. So she wasn't pushing him away, which was good. She seemed to be okay with him kissing her, right?

He kept his eyes open as long as he could, but the closer he got to her, the blurrier she became. He allowed his eyes to fall closed as he tipped his lips towards hers. The lips were the most sensitive part of the body, he knew, and he could hardly wait to feel Audrey's against his.

Audrey took another half step forward, inching closer and closer to her partner. She tilted her head to the side and awaited his gentle kiss.

All of a sudden, the door burst open behind them. "Hey, hey, hey!" Duke called out, striding out onto the porch.

Surprised by his sudden arrival, Nathan straightened up and turned his head away. Audrey pulled her hand from his and took a large step back. She twisted her head around to look at their visitor.

Duke froze, staring at them. "Woah, am I interrupting anything?"

Audrey could only hope that the darkness of the porch could obscure the blush that spread across her face. "No, Duke. What's up?"

"Ooh, someone's tense."

Nathan growled lightly. "Duke, seriously?"

The tall man leaned back and held his hands up in a defensive position. "Hey, I just came to tell you guys that the Rock'em Sock'em Robots Competition is about to begin. But if you two just want to stay out here and have some hanky panky fun… well then I'm going to tell you to leave and go get your own room."

Audrey shook her head and scoffed disgustedly. "Oh God, really? Can you ever not be disgusting?"

Duke shrugged. "So what'll it be?"

"We'll be inside in a minute." Nathan informed him with a pointed look in his direction. He kept up the look until Duke backed up and went back into the Grey Gull. Once he disappeared, Nathan looked back down at his partner. "So, shall we?"

Audrey observed his renewed countenance, the bracing of his shoulders and hardening of his jaw, and sighed. "Alright, let's go join the madness." She grabbed her drink, took a big gulp of it, and then turned to walk back into the restaurant. Nathan followed her. She stopped in front of the large glass door and reached her hand out to grab the handle, and then paused.

"Are you going to go play Rock'em Sock'em Robots?" She asked him.

Nathan chortled. "Nope. But I'll cheer for you to go play."

She laughed with him. "Well, if I've got my own cheerleader then why not? Are you going to put on a little pleated skirt, wave around some pom poms?"

He stopped laughing immediately. "No."

"Oh, darn." She frowned playfully. "Then what's in it for me?"

Nathan pointed to her half empty glass. "I'll go get you another drink."

"That'll do, pig, that'll do." She quipped as she yanked open the door and head inside. Their table from before was empty, but she spotted an open spot at the bar. She headed straight for it and sat down on the bar stool.

When Nathan caught up to her, he leaned down to talk to her. He had to speak right in her ear to be heard clearly over the music and Audrey shivered as his breath fanned over the side of her face. "What's that from?"

She glanced at him, partially confused by the question and partially having missed it from her momentary daze of arousal. "Huh?"

"That pig line?" He talked into her ear again. "What's it from?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Babe, the movie. At the end, after the pig wins the competition, the farmer congratulates him, basically."

"And… why did you say that to me?" He raised one eyebrow.

Audrey giggled and took a sip of her drink. "I don't know. It just fit the situation."

He shook his head at her. "Okay then." His stuck his hand out over the bar to get the attention of the bartender. Duke had let someone else take over, it seemed, and Audrey didn't recognize the new guy. He handed over his empty beer bottle and asked "Hey, can I get another beer and how about a Caribbean Blue for the lady?"

The bartender nodded and began mixing her drink.

"A blue what?" The blonde questioned.

The drinks slid over to them from across the bar. Nathan handed Audrey the tall glass, which was an electric blue color that came with both a twisty straw and a slice of pineapple on the side.

"It's a Caribbean Blue." He enunciated as she took a sip.

She hummed happily and took another drink. "Okay, that's pretty good. Very tropical."

"Glad you like it." He grinned. "It matches your top."

Audrey glanced down at her shirt and then to the glass in her hand and guffawed. "Yeah, it does!" She took another drink as Nathan grabbed his beer and took a swig. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Duke's booming voice demanded the attention of everyone in the room. The music had cut out and he was speaking through a microphone over the stereo system.

* * *

More booze, and the fun is about to begin. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Grey Gull!" He paused for a second while everyone cheered. Audrey lifted her head up and tried to find him, but she couldn't see over the heads of all the other people around her. Nathan noticed what she was doing and popped up on his tip toes to look. He pointed over to the far left hand corner of the room.

"Thank you all for joining us tonight. We've got something extra special planned for this evening's festivities. So, the Haven Fire Department was looking for something fun to do for their annual fundraiser. And I'm sorry ladies, they didn't decide to make a calendar for you all, but maybe you can convince them to do that next year." A bunch of girls squealed. Audrey found herself smiling with the rest of them. A fire department calendar was definitely something she'd donate for.

"But I was talking to Mr. Creighton and he was telling me about his kids and this toy they had been enjoying recently. Now I don't really know anything about kids, but I do know a little something about drunk people. So I said to him, 'You know, drunk people can act like kids sometimes.' Yes, I'm talking about all of you. So I said to him, I said, 'Why don't we bring that game to them?'" More people started yelling and cheering excitedly, causing him to pause for a minute to let it die down.

"And thus, tonight's event was born. So I present to you, this year's Haven Fire Department fundraiser, a Rock'em Sock'em Robots Competition!"

Another, deeper voice, who Audrey figured was Mr. Creighton, took over talking. "Thanks, everyone. So the way this is all going to work is like this: I already have some of my men walking around. You can tell who they are, they're wearing their uniforms. They've got some buckets, and they'll be collecting some general donations. Meanwhile, it costs 10 dollars per person to join the tournament, per round if we end up playing multiple rounds. It depends on how many people are interested in participating. So come on up and see me to sign up, I'll take names for about twenty minutes, and then we'll get started."

He handed the microphone back over to Duke. "Alright, so come on up and talk to the handsome Mr. Creighton here and get signed up for the tournament. In the meantime, enjoy the music and please order drinks or food or whatever, the bar is completely open tonight and we've got plenty of great specials for you to choose from. Once again, thanks everyone for coming out, let's have a great night!"

The clapping and screaming picked back up. It continued for couple minutes, until someone turned the music back on.

Nathan poked Audrey's cheek, beaming wildly as she squeaked in shock. "So you going to go sign up?"

She rubbed her cheek and sighed. "Yeah, okay, I guess so. Stay here and hold down the fort?"

He lifted up his arm and saluted her. "Yes, ma'am." He sat down in the stool after she stood up.

Audrey took another large mouthful of her drink, and then walked off toward the corner. After squeezing through a crowd of young dancing hooligans, and nearly spilling her drink, she spotted Mr. Creighton, recognizing him by his thick salt and pepper mustache. He was standing next to Duke in front of a small wooden table holding a clear bucket like the one she had seen the fire fighter with earlier and three Rock'em Sock'em Robot toys.

"Mr. Creighton!" She greeted, tramping up to him.

"Ms. Parker!" He shook her hand. "What a pleasant surprise."

Duke stepped up to her side and clasped a hand on her shoulder. "Audrey doesn't really get out much, but I made sure to personally invite her tonight."

"Any chance to help out a fellow department," she explained with a shrug.

The older man nodded. "Of course. Well would you like to participate in the tournament?"

"I would!" She shuffled her purse from her shoulder down to her wrist without shaking her drink too much. She slipped her hand inside, pulled out some money, and then handed it over to him. He counted it and dropped it into the bucket.

He wrote her name down on a clipboard. "Alright, you're all set! We'll call you up when it's time to play."

"Sounds like a deal." She replied. With the quick wave of her hand, she turned and started walking back toward the bar.

Before she could get too far, Duke grabbed her arm and pulled her to a halt. He reached a hand out for her drink, but she pulled it away quickly and took a sip. "Woah, dear, how many drinks have you had tonight?"

Audrey looked down at the drink for a second, and counted. "This is just my third. Relax, I'm fine."

"Do I need to come look out for you?" He quipped.

She frowned. Yeah, she could feel the heaviness in her limbs and the cloudiness that had begun to take over her mind, but she could still see and think relatively clearly. "Nah, I'm fine, really."

He let go of her arm. "Okay. Well let me know if you need anything, alright?"

She nodded succinctly at him, and then made her way to Nathan. The crowd around the bar had gotten larger, apparently there was an influx of people ordering drinks before the competition was going to start. There was barely enough room for her to stand next to her partner. She ended up squeezing up to him and standing between his parted legs as he remained sitting on the stool.

"Do you want to sit down?" He asked.

Audrey shifted her weight back and forth for a moment, testing how her feet were handling the heeled boots she was wearing, and then she shook her head. "Nah, I'm alright." The alcohol was definitely lowering her senses, she realized. She didn't wear heels too often, only when necessary for extravagant functions, and thus her feet weren't too used to them. Her feet should be hurting right now, but the booze was helping her pain tolerance. She sent a quick thanks to the alcohol gods and took another drink from her glass.

"Okay." He stated, watching her lean to the side, slightly off balance. He reached out one arm and placed it on her waist, trying to keep her steady. "You sure you're alright?"

She huffed. "Okay, seriously, I'm fine. Why does everyone think I can't handle my alcohol? I can! I'm perfectly fine. Really."

"Everyone?" Nathan inquired. He felt kind of bad, because he wasn't trying to insinuate that she couldn't take care of herself. He was just a little worried about her in those heels. They were sexy, and made her legs look fabulous, but she seemed a bit unsteady in them. He knew he couldn't judge her alcohol tolerance, because he was drinking just as much as she was.

"Duke got all up in my face back there trying to make sure I was okay. God, people need to just leave me alone and let me have fun."

Her partner shrugged. "I'm sorry about Duke. Please, have all the fun you want, I'm not here to stop you."

Audrey giggled and reached out to poke the beer that was hanging from his free hand. "You seem to be having fun too. You're on your, what, fifth beer?"

Nathan 'pff'ed and battled her statement, "Nope, this is just my third, and I'm not even done with it yet." He swirled the bottle around, showing that there was still some beer left.

She gave him a sly look. "Chug it!"

"What?" He asked, incredulous.

"Come on, down it!" Audrey took a sip of her drink, as if imitating what he should do.

He just shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll just take it slow."

"Party pooper." Audrey pouted.

Nathan set his beer down on the bar and reached up to flick her lower lip with his pointer finger. A burst of tingly sensation burst across his skin at the contact and then he pulled away. Before he could say anything, Duke's voice came across the speakers.

"Okay, well, it looks like we've got plenty of people signed up, so we're going to get started with the rounds. If you still want to participate, please come on up and talk to Mr. Creighton. But for now, we've got two Rock'em Sock'em Robots stations set up over here. When I call out your name, please come on up and let's get this competition started!" He listed off a few names, including Audrey's.

"Here we go!" Nathan said cheerfully, grabbing his beer bottle. He pushed Audrey back slowly, allowing her to make some space for herself in the crowd while he made himself enough room to get off of the stool. "Lead the way."

She grabbed his free hand in hers and weaved her way through the crowd. When she got close enough to the front, Duke found her and showed her to the table with her opponent. Nathan stood right next to her to cheer her on. He held her drink for her while she placed her hands on the triggers and got ready to play.

The matches went by quickly; it really didn't take long for one of the little robots to pop the head of the other one up. Audrey won her first two matches, but then got out somewhere in the semi-finals. She took it all in stride.

She and Nathan moved over to the edge of the crowd and just watched the others finish the competition. A few last minute additions messed up Mr. Creighton's score sheet for a few minutes, but then he got it worked out and managed to work them into the schedule before the finals.

The finals got really intense. The crowd fell almost completely silent as the last two competitors mashed the trigger buttons and the robots swung at each other with full force. Both heads popped up and the whole crowd screamed. They ended up doing a two out of three and finally the winner was announced. It was a short thin girl with a brunette bob, whom Duke introduced as Jennifer.

After everyone in the establishment cheered wildly for her, Mr. Creighton grabbed the microphone and officially ended the competition. He thanked everyone for coming and for donating.

* * *

Wow, an update, yay. So now that the competition is over... what's coming next? Hmm... Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

Slowly, the crowd began to dissipate. The older half of the crowd, who had mainly been in attendance for the fundraiser, finished off their drinks and meals and went home. Audrey and Nathan stood in place for several minutes after the entire ordeal had ended. They decided to wait until the crowd thinned out a little bit to go find somewhere to sit.

Audrey lifted up her glass to take a drink, but a ringing sucking sound came from her straw. She frowned. "Well, crap." Nathan lifted up his bottle too, showing that it was also empty. She glanced at him for a second and they had a quick nonverbal conversation about what to do next. Somehow, they both settled on getting more drinks, so they walked over to the bar. There were a few seats open near the corner of the bar, so they snagged two of them.

Nathan took the reins again, grabbing the bartender's attention. He handed the man the empty bottle and glass and ordered two more drinks, another beer for him and a strawberry daiquiri for her.

This time, Audrey's drink was thick and blended with ice, and came in a rounded cocktail glass. The straw was a plain straight white one, but at least there was a strawberry tucked on the edge of the glass. She grabbed it from Nathan and took a drink. It went down smoother than the others had—the thick blend to this drink masked the bitter alcohol taste slightly better. Well, that, or she was more intoxicated than she was willing to admit and was losing her ability to differentiate between different alcohols.

But she was sure it was the first one. Because she felt totally fine.

"Is that one okay?" Nathan asked.

"Mmhmm!" She grinned and held it out towards him. "Do you want some?"

He shook his head slightly and held up his brown glass bottle. "I'm alright."

Audrey frowned. "How do you drink that stuff, anyway? It just tastes like… wet bread."

"It's not too bad. It's an acquired taste, I guess. Plus, this one's a local brew." Nathan explained, turning the bottle to show her the label. "The Sea Dog Brewing Company started up in Bangor in… umm… ninety two or ninety three. So this one, the blueberry wheat ale, is actually one of their more popular brews. Won a bunch of awards and stuff."

"Still." Audrey deadpanned. "Wet bread."

He chuckled. "Okay, fair enough. This one's pretty light and it's got a fruity berry edge to it, which is nice. Do you want to try it?"

She glanced at the bottle for a couple seconds, and then shoved her own straw into her mouth. After taking a big drink, she said, "Nah, I'm good here."

Katy Perry's 'I Kissed A Girl' began playing on the speakers overhead. _"This was never the way I planned, not my intention. I got so brave, drink in hand, lost my discretion."_

Nathan tilted his head back and groaned. "Seriously?"

"Something wrong, Wuornos?"

"A lot of today's music sucks."

"What do you like to listen to, then?" She inquired.

He sneered. "The good stuff."

"Like?"

"Like, Bon Jovi, Journey, Queen, Aerosmith. You know, the classics." He listed off a few, ticking them off with his fingers.

Audrey nodded. "Okay, fair enough. I listened to some of that."

"Some?" He repeated. "What else? Or do I even want to know?"

"A little bit of Dixie Chicks, Destiny's Child. Oh, and you can't forget Salt-n-Pepa. And my guilty pleasure is Justin Timberlake."

Nathan burst out laughing. "Okay, okay. I'll allow it."

"But I also keep up with some of today's stuff." She pointed out. _"I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it."_ With a sly look on her face, she started singing.

Her partner instantly froze. "No. Don't."

_"I kissed a girl and I liked it."_

"Audreyyyy." He whined. "Stopppp."

"Why?"

"Because this song is ridiculous."

"What, have you never kissed a girl before?" The blonde quipped. She took a sip of her drink and then sat there staring at him innocently, waiting for him to answer.

It wasn't often that she saw him as flustered as he was in that moment. "Wha—what? That's not… that's not what I meant."

She continued to mess with him. "So you haven't?"

"Kissed a girl?" His eyes nearly bugged out of his face. "Of course I have."

"Okay, then." She said concisely.

Nathan took a long swig of his beer and gave her a funny look. She knew he had, of course. They had talked about relationships before, hadn't they? He'd told her about his prom night with Hannah Driscoll, at least. Plus she'd been supportive of his relationship with Jess. Sure, he didn't have much relationship history, partially because of his Trouble and partially because of his overall social awkwardness, but he had been sexually active at some point in his life. So why was she questioning his kissing history? Why did she care? Did she want to…? No. Of course. Don't think that way. He frowned, guessing she was just messing with him. Deciding to mess with her back, he asked, "Why, have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Kissed a girl?"

She giggled and started singing along quietly with the song again. _"I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick. I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it."_

Nathan paused. "Wait a minute… are you just singing or are you saying you have?"

Mentally, Audrey thanked the alcohol for already giving her a slightly flushed appearance. It saved her from the embarrassing blushing she knew she would normally be doing right now. _"I kissed a girl and I liked it. I liked it. Us girls we are so magical: soft skin, red lips, so kissable. Hard to resist, so touchable. Too good to deny it. Ain't no big deal, it's innocent."_

"Audrey." He said sternly. "Answer me, please."

She giggled again. "Yeah, I have." With the truth in the air, she turned her attention to her drink and grabbed the strawberry from the edge. Slowly, she lifted it to her lips and bit into the sweet fruit.

"Okay, yeah, that's what I—wait, what? You have?" He was really confused now. He didn't think that Audrey was bisexual or lesbian or anything. At least, she had never said anything about it.

"Yeah. It was at a college party, with a friend. We were a little drunk, it just kind of happened." She explained.

"Oh."

"Yep. It was nice, though. Her lips were pretty smooth. It was a long time ago, but I remember her being a really good kisser."

Nathan took another drink from his bottle, using it as an excuse to look away from her. He couldn't help but picture her pressed up against some drunk girl, all curves and fiery red hair. They'd have their hands on each other's waists, their lips would be mashed together. One of them would moan and pull the other one closer and then— He shook the image from his head quickly, taking another drink.

"I never would've pictured you as that girl, Parker." He said, trying to mask his arousal with more confusion.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. She just shrugged. "Hey, I am a much different person now than I was in college."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Duke's voice interrupted the nonsensical rap song that was playing over the speakers. "So the official fundraiser is over, and we raised quite a bit for the Haven Fire Department, so thank you all so much for that! Now, however, what do you all say about continuing this great party we've got going on?" A series of cries of 'hell yes' rang through the room. "How does some karaoke sound?" Once again, loud cheers filled the room. "Alright. Well I've got one more bucket for donations, so I'm going to set it up here at our little makeshift stage area and we'll make it kind of like a little fundraiser. If you like whoever is performing, you can bring up some donations. Sound good? Alright. Well if you want to sign up, you can come talk to me or to Wade, our DJ. And unless we've got any immediate takers, I'll get us started off."

Through the millionth round of screams that night, Audrey turned to Nathan and remarked, "Like that. If I was in college, I would be jumping all over karaoke."

"No! Really?"

She nodded solemnly. "Yep. I used to be able to have fun. Like, real fun. Now I just, what, work all the time? And I used to be able to drink all my friends under the table! Now I drink a glass of wine, if that. And then I come out like this and sit in a corner and drink a bunch of fruity drinks." She angrily sipped at her drink.

Nathan reached up and rubbed his chin. "Fun? Well you said you want to have fun tonight, right? So go do karaoke."

"What? No! I am way too old for that."

"Duke's about to do it. I'll bet a bunch of people here will be up for it. People our age."

She groaned. "I'm not drunk enough for karaoke."

The man finished off his beer with a distinct gulp and then slammed the bottle down onto the bar. "Well, then let's do a shot."

"Woah, Wuornos, you're getting crazy over here."

"I'm serious! Why not?"

Audrey looked down at her drink and was surprised to find it almost empty. Again.

"Or we could just leave." He added another option to the table.

Audrey glanced up at the clock on the wall. It took her a little bit to distinguish the minute and hour hands from each other, and then she considered the different possibilities. If she left now, she'd just have to make her way upstairs and then crash on her bed. Sleep would be nice. But if she stayed, and had more drinks and partied more… what would happen? She'd still be able to crash in her apartment. And she didn't have to work the next day, so she could sleep in. It had been ages since she had fully had a fun night to herself. Her FBI schedule had kept her working around the clock, and things weren't much freer in Haven. Did she deserve a little fun? Nathan looked like he was having fun. He was looser, although he probably couldn't feel the constant slight movements of his limbs or the smile that seemed permanently stretched across his face. His eyes seemed lighter and brighter than usual. If she were to leave though… he wouldn't be able to go home, not after how much he drank. Of course, he wouldn't be able to go home either way. He'd probably have to come stay on her couch.

Or in her bed.

* * *

Sorry, readers, college finals kept me too busy... but here's an update. Hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you think! And ooh, Audrey's thoughts are starting to stray a bit, aren't they?


	7. Chapter 7

She ignored the push of her subconscious and tried to focus on the current decision. Stay or go?

Audrey squared her shoulders and glanced back up at Nathan. "Alright. Let's stay. Why not, right?"

"Woo!" He pumped his fist in the air excitedly.

Audrey turned to grab the bartender's attention when a series of loud piano notes reverberated through the bar. She turned toward the front of the room. Overall the crowd had settled down enough so that she could actually see Duke standing there, ready to sing into the microphone. People were sitting at the tables that lined the walls of the restaurant or surrounding the bar. Only a sparse few were milling about on the floor, starting to dance as the song began.

_"__Just take those old records off the shelf. I'll sit and listen to 'em by myself. Today's music ain't got the same soul. I like that old time rock 'n' roll."_ Duke crooned into the microphone. "_Don't try to take me to a disco. You'll never even get me out on the floor. In ten minutes I'll be late for the door. I like that old time rock 'n' roll." _He started dancing around like Tom Cruise in the movie Risky Business. _"Still like that old time rock 'n' roll. That kind of music just soothes the soul. I reminisce about the days of old. With that old time rock 'n' roll."_

"Wow." Audrey looked over at Nathan. "He's actually pretty good."

Her partner shrugged. "He's alright, I guess."

She groaned. "Will you two ever get along?"

"Nope." He stated plainly. Audrey reached out and elbowed him in the side. "Ow!"

She chuckled and took another sip of her daiquiri.

_"__Still like that old time rock 'n' roll. That kind of music just soothes my soul. I reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock 'n' roll. Still like that old time rock 'n' roll." _Duke finished off the song and took a deep bow.

Audrey clapped her hands together excitedly. "Wooo!" She yelled out.

The tall man stood there for a minute, taking in the applause, before handing the microphone over to a group of girls. Rihanna's Don't Stop The Music began playing. The girls started singing voraciously. _"It's getting late, I'm making my way over to my favorite place. I gotta get my body moving shake the stress away. I wasn't looking for nobody when you looked my way; Possible candidate, yeah."_

Meanwhile, Nathan handed their empty glasses to the bartender and ordered their two shots. The two small glasses were placed next to them on the bar a few seconds later.

Nathan tapped his partner on the shoulder. "You ready for this?"

She turned around and spotted the shot glasses. The small glasses were filled with a golden liquid with salt around the rim and a slice of lime propped on the edge. "Tequila?" She questioned, her voice squeaking.

He chuckled. "Would you have rather done something else?"

"Well—"

"Because you can order next time if you'd like."

She scoffed and shook her head. "No, no, this is fine. I don't know what I was expecting."

Nathan reached out, grabbed one of the glasses, and handed the other to Audrey.

_"__Baby are you ready cause it's getting close. Don't you feel the passion ready to explode? What goes on between us no-one has to know. This is a private show."_ The girls continued. While the song wasn't a bad choice, they weren't too good at the whole singing part. One of the girls was slurring her words quite a bit and kept losing track of where she was in the song. The other two girls' voices were screechy and off key.

She groaned. "Okay, yeah, anything to drown out this noise."

"Alright. 5… 4… 3…" Nathan counted down. The two turned to face each other on their stools. They held their glasses in one hand and the lime wedge in the other, prepared to down the shot fast. When he got to one, they tossed them back.

Audrey made sure to lick the edge of the glass to get some of the salt into her mouth before tilting her head back and swallowing the strong liquor. It burned its way down her throat. She slammed the empty glass down onto the bar and shoved the lime between her teeth. Its sweet citrusy taste helped combat the bitterness. Once the intense taste faded, she removed the fruit slice and gasped.

"Whew. Wow it's been a while since I've done one of those."

Nathan shook his head back and forth, making unintelligible noises, while setting his glass and the lime wedge on the bar. "God," he panted. "I almost forgot how much that burned."

Audrey laughed. "Yeah, same here. Maybe we should leave the shots to the youngins."

He pouted at her. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're backing out on me now."

"Of course not." She said, dropping what was left of her lime into her shot glass.

"So what's next?"

She smacked her hand down onto the bar and forced herself up onto her feet, "I think I'm going to go sing. Come cheer me on?" She held her hand out to him.

He stood up and took it, letting her lead him over to the little stage area. The girls were just finishing off the final bit of their song, repeating _"Please don't stop the music"_ over and over again. When Duke noticed her approaching, his eyebrows nearly flew up into his hairline.

"Do you need something, Audrey?"

"Yes." She said simply, walking closer to him. The alcohol she had consumed was definitely starting to swirl around in her brain, and she found herself a bit unbalanced. She reached out and grabbed her friend's shoulder. "I'd like to do some carrie-oaky." She drew out the word as if she were making a joke, and then ended up being the only one laughing at it.

Duke gaped at her for a second, looking back and forth between her and Nathan. Her partner was standing behind her, hands tucked in his pockets and, despite the grin on his face, looking resolute. "Okay then," he said. "I look forward to seeing this. Just… one little question." He moved in to whisper it in her ear. "How much have you had to drink?"

She laughed. "A little here, a little there. Maybe a shot of tequila. Whatever."

"You had a—" He stopped himself, and just waved it off.

Audrey reached up and poked him in the chest. "How much have you had, Duke?"

He backed away slightly, taking on a defensive position. "Not as much as you, apparently. Someone has to stay sober and take care of people around here."

She stomped one foot angrily, her heel clicking against the floor. "Hey. I'm totally sober. I'm fine." Her statement would have been more powerful if she hadn't stumbled while speaking, causing Nathan to have to reach out and wrap his arms around her waist to stabilize her.

Nathan and Duke locked eyes over her shoulder, and then the taller man chuckled. "Alright, fine, I believe you. So you want to come pick a track?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes, please."

Her partner pulled away from her. "I'll just be over there in the crowd. Have fun."

He walked away while Audrey moved up to the table that was covered with a large karaoke CD collection. She flipped through and found one she liked quickly. She passed it on to Duke and moved over to the little stage. She grabbed the microphone from the small stand the girls had left it on.

"Hey, everyone."

A bunch of people turned to look at her. When they realized that it was her, they whooped and hollered.

"I'm going to slow things down just a tad. But it'll be fun, I promise. I would like to thank Nathan," she pointed to where he was in the front of the crowd that surrounded her, "for encouraging me to come out and have some fun tonight."

The music started up, a slow guitar pattern. "_We could just go home right now_ _or maybe we could stick around for just one more drink, oh yeah_. _Get another bottle out_. _Let's shoot the shit_, s_it back down_ _for just one more drink, oh yeah." _She had chosen this song because it fit her most recent dilemma. She had chosen to stay and have fun, all thanks to her partner, and she felt that this song fit that. Plus, it was just kind of a fun song. It was a recent song, from a newer band, but it still had a nice old rock feel to it.

_"__Here's to us. Here's to love. All the times that we fucked up. Here's to you. Fill the glass cause the last few days have kicked my ass. So let's give em hell. Wish everybody well. Here's to us. Here's to us."_

Audrey wished she had a drink in her hand that she could raise up like a toast. Instead, she settled on gripping the microphone tightly in her hand and singing passionately into it.

She looked over at Nathan. He wasn't really dancing like others were, but he was rocking slightly side to side with the beat as he watched her. It seemed like his entire being was smiling at her. _"Stuck it out this far together, put our dreams through the shredder, let's toast cause things got better and everything could change like that and all these years go by so fast. But nothing lasts forever."_

She started banging her head and dancing around more fervently. _"Here's to us. Here's to love. All the times that we messed up. Here's to you, fill the glass cause the last few nights have kicked my ass. If they give you hell, tell em to go fuck themselves. Here's to us. Here's to us."_

Audrey slid smoothly into the fast bridge. "_Here's to all that we kissed and to all that we missed. To the biggest mistakes that we just wouldn't trade. To us breaking up without us breaking down. To whatever's coming our way."_

_"__Here's to us. Here's to love. All the times that we fucked up. Here's to you. Fill the glass cause the last few days have kicked my ass. So let's give em hell. Wish everybody well. Here's to us. Here's to love." _By this point, most of the audience was singing along._ "All the times that we messed up. Here's to you, fill the glass cause the last few nights have kicked my ass. If they give you hell, tell them to go fuck themselves. Here's to us. Here's to us. Here's to us. Here's to love. Wish everybody well. Here's to us. Here's to love. Here's to us." _She tucked the microphone back into the stand and crooned the end of the song._ "Here's to us."_

After the beat ended, she took a step back from the microphone and held her arms open wide. Everyone was cheering for her, and it felt great. A peek over at her partner revealed that he was cheering for her too. He had even stuck two fingers in his mouth and was whistling loudly. She bowed a couple times.

* * *

I am actually still alive? Wow. Sorry. I am notoriously bad at this. But I'm gunna try to be back more this month, I promise. NaNoWriMo and all!

(Songs aren't mine obv)


	8. Chapter 8

Duke sidled up beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He leaned forward to speak into the microphone. "Woah! Ladies and gentlemen, let's get another round of applause for Ms. Audrey Parker! What a voice she's got, hmm? Who's going to try and one up that, do we have any takers?"

He led Audrey slip away as more people came up to sign up for karaoke. She head into the crowd and fell right into Nathan's arms. He hugged her tightly.

"That was great!" he complimented, pulling back a little bit to look at her face. "You totally rocked that song."

"What, didn't think I had it in me?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "I knew you did, and it was just amazing to watch."

"You know what else is amazing?"

"What?"

She pulled away from him and started backing toward the bar. "Another shot."

Nathan chased after her, laughing. She ordered a second round of tequila shots and he knew better than to go against her when she had her mind made up. They drank the shots swiftly, just like they had before. Then they settled in at a small table near the side door and watched a bunch of people perform. Some were better than others, but the large range of music was really interesting. One guy performed an Adam Lambert song and kicked its ass out of the park. An older woman, and butchered, Who Do You Think You Are by the Spice Girls, but then redeemed herself a bit with a decent version of Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Audrey had gotten up to dance to that one. A couple even went up there together to sing the duet Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

_"__Don't go breaking my heart."_

_"__I couldn't if I tried."_

_"__Honey if I get restless."_

_"__Baby you're not that kind."_

"This is such a great song!" Audrey screeched.

Nathan just nodded to her. "Yeah, it's pretty good."

The blonde was already standing up on the dance floor after dancing to the song before. She held her hand out towards him. "Will you come dance with me?"

_"__Nobody knows it. Right from the start I gave you my heart." _The pair in the front of the room was singing.

Nathan sighed, but then reached out and took her hand. He allowed her to pull him up and into the center of the room. She grabbed his other hand when they got there and started dancing around wildly. He was a little embarrassed at first, but then he let the music and the alcohol take control. They danced back and forth and around in circles, making complete fools out of themselves but also having as much as fun as they could.

_"__I won't go breaking your heart." _Audrey sang along with the pair.

Nathan chuckled, but joined in. _"Don't go breaking my heart."_

They finished dancing to the song, ending with a smooth move where Nathan flung Audrey out to one side, and then she twirled into his chest. The warmth of his embrace was heavenly, and for a moment she forgot where she was. As the song trailed off its last few notes, the crowd burst into applause and the rush of sound was a shock to Audrey's ears.

All of a sudden, Audrey had an idea. As the couple stepped away from the microphone, another man stepped up and started singing the karaoke classic Don't Stop Believin.

Audrey pulled away from her partner. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Duke real quick, but I'll be right back, alright?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Okay. Are you going to sing again?"

She smirked. "Yeah, I was thinking about it." She walked over to the stage set up, trying not to feel bad for not telling Nathan the whole truth. Would he agree if she asked him to sing a duet with her? Probably not. Was it mean to force him into it? Probably.

But it would be fun, right? And that was the point of tonight, to have fun! She managed to get him to dance with her a little bit, but there was probably a limit to what his drunkenness would allow him to do. She was already surprised with his looseness as is. Normally, he was pretty uptight and reserved. And even though he kept telling her that he wanted her to have a break from work, but she wanted the same for him. So she was going to try to make the most of it for both of them, she decided.

Audrey strolled up to Duke, who was hanging out by the karaoke set and watching the guy belt out the Journey song. She rested against the table beside him and gave him a sly look.

"Hey Duke."

"Hello Audrey. Do you need anything? Want to sing again?"

She giggled. "Something like that. I actually need you to help me with something." She leaned in and whispered her plan into his ear.

He laughed heartily. "Are you sure that's going to work?"

"I'm going to make it work."

He shrugged. "Alright, well it's your life."

"What, you don't think I can do it?" She propped her hand on her hip and squinted angrily at him.

Duke shook his head. "No, it's not that at all. I fully believe you can do it, and I really _really _want to see it happen. He would do anything for you, you know. He loves you."

Audrey guffawed. "Nah. We're just good friends."

"Okay, if you say so." He chuckled dryly. He ran his hand over his small beard. "So what song do you want?"

Suddenly, she was distracted by his confusing statement as she tried to think through the different songs she knew. "God, I don't know. Do you just want to pick something out for us? Anything goes, as long as it's something we'll both know."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. I trust you." She reached up and kissed his cheek. Then she turned and sauntered back over to her partner, who was still standing in the center of the room.

As soon as he saw her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Have a productive secret meeting?"

Audrey winked. "Yes. Yes I did." She paused. "I have a question."

"Hmm?"

"Would you do anything for me?"

"What do you mean by anything?" He answered back with a question.

She shook her head. "That's not fair. Would you or not?"

He sighed. "Ayuh."

"Good." She grinned.

Duke stepped up to the makeshift stage, grabbing the microphone as it was handed over to him by the guy who had just finished singing. "Alright, thanks so much, John, for that amazing performance of a classic hit, we all loved it, I'm sure." He reached down, grabbed the plastic container from the floor, and held it up in the air. He shook it a bit, and a few loose coins rattled around inside. "And look at this, it looks like we've raised a bunch more money for the Haven Fire Department! I'd like to thank everyone again for participating, I'm sure Mr. Creighton will be extremely thankful." He set the bucket on the table.

Audrey started bouncing on her toes excitedly. It was coming up, she could feel it. This next moment was going to define the rest of her night. She snuck a glance up at Nathan, who was still idly holding her while paying attention to Duke's speech. Was he going to be really upset with her?

"Unfortunately, it's getting a bit late, and I can only keep the Grey Gull open for so long before she starts complaining on me and waking up with hangovers and you all know how that goes. So we've got one more performance lined up for you all tonight, and this one is going to be a real treat. So let's give it up for our very own Audrey Parker and Nathan Wuornos!"

Nathan turned rock solid beside Audrey, and she turned to him with concern. "Nathan?"

"What did you do?" He asked, his eyebrows lowering. One of his hands tightened painfully on her hip.

She pursed her lips, trying to ignore the discomfort. "I thought it would be fun to sing a duet. Come on, do it with me, please?!"

He stared at her for a few seconds that felt like hours. Slowly, however, his face relaxed and he let go of her. He blew the air out between his teeth and nodded his head toward the front of the room. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait," she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "Really?"

"Let's do it before I change my mind, you crazy woman." He pushed forward, past her and to the microphone. He took one that Duke was holding out to him.

"Have fun, Tin Man." The man chided.

"Shut up." He growled at him.

Audrey reached his side and took a second microphone from Duke. "Thanks." She whispered. She moved to stand next to Nathan, facing the crowd. They had all fallen silent, watching them.

Nathan lifted the microphone to his mouth in preparation and then paused. He turned to Audrey and murmured, "What song are we singing, again?"

She chuckled. "We'll see."

He gaped at her incredulously. This was going to turn out badly, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, the trill of the piano drifted from the speakers.

He recognized the song instantly. Crap. He wondered, for a fleeting moment, if there was any way to get out of this. But with another glance over at his partner, who had a beautiful smile stretched across her face and had already started shaking back and forth with the beat. Nope, he realized, he was stuck. He really would do anything for her.

* * *

Yep here's another one wow.

(Songs not mine obv)


	9. Chapter 9

_"I got chills. They're multiplying." _The words scrolled across the screen to his left, but he didn't really need them. Unfortunately, the musical had been so widely popular that he knew all the words already. "_And I'm losing control cause the power you're supplying, It's electrifying!"_

_"You better shape up cause I need a man and my heart is set on you. You better shape up. You better understand: to my heart I must be true." _Audrey's voice wasn't as high pitched as Olivia Newton John's was in the original movie, but it didn't matter. Her voice was smooth and angelic and Nathan found himself entranced with every note she sang.

_"Nothing left, nothing left for me to do." _He called out.

They started singing the chorus together and managed to line up perfectly, not a word out of sync with the other. _"You're the one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, the one I need. Oh, yes, indeed."_

_"If you're filled with affection you're too shy to convey." _The line immediately made Audrey think of Nathan. The more time she had spent with him that night, the more she had come to notice the undeniable sexual tension between them. The feelings that she had been denying and pushing away for weeks. She had spent so long just telling herself that they were just partners, just friends. And for what? "_Meditate in my direction_. _Feel your way." _She didn't even have to wonder if he felt the same. Just the fact that he was doing this proved that he would do anything for her. Would they ever do anything about it though?

_"I better shape up cause you need a man." _He wanted to be the man for her, he thought.

She gripped the microphone tightly, crooning into it. _"I need a man who can keep me satisfied." _I need you, she wanted to scream at him.

_"I better shape up if I'm gonna prove."_

She smirked, interrupting him. _"You better prove that my faith is justified."_

_"Are you sure?" _Nathan glanced over at her, and for a moment she felt like he was reading her mind and responding to that instead of just singing the song. His voice was deep and husky and smooth all at the same time and Audrey just wanted to crawl into his vocal cords and huddle there for warmth.

Audrey inched closer to him and grabbed his hand as they sang together, "_Yes I'm sure down deep inside."_

_"You're the one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey." _They turned to face the room and started dancing side to side. "_The one that I want_. _Oo-oo-oo, honey_. _The one that I want_. _Oo-oo-oo, the one I need_. _Oh, yes, indeed_. _You're the one that I want_. _Oo-oo-oo, honey_. _The one that I want_. _Oo-oo-oo, honey_. _The one that I want_. _Oo-oo-oo, the one I need_. _Oh, yes, indeed."_

Nathan was starting to feel awkward about the continually repeating chorus, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying it and singing along, so that helped. He used their joined hands to pull her closer. His left hand landed on her waist as he stood behind her. He didn't have time to worry that she would feel uncomfortable, and surely she didn't. She fell right into the movement with him as they swayed their hips back and forth together

_"You're the one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, the one I need. Oh, yes, indeed. You're the one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, honey. The one that I want. Oo-oo-oo, the one I need. Oh, yes, indeed."_

As the song drifted off, Audrey leaned back against Nathan and laughed. "I can't believe we just did that." She murmured. Applause roared around them.

"You realize that people aren't going to stop talking about this for years, right?" Nathan whispered in her ear. "Even Stan is here." He glanced out at his fellow Haven cop, who was grinning at the pair in absolute delight.

Duke walked up to them and slapped a hand down on Nathan's shoulder. "Well well well, if it isn't Haven's finest lovebirds. Cute. That was cute."

Audrey furrowed her eyebrows, about to tell him off. Then, the Grey Gull seemed to swim around her. She felt lightheaded, until Nathan's hand tightened on her waist.

All of a sudden, he encompassed her thoughts. She was hyper aware of his body against hers, his breath against her neck, his voice in her ear.

"Shove it, Duke." A husky voice spoke.

The blonde grinned and reached out to place her hand on her friend's chest. "Thank you, Duke." With that said, she used the hand to push him to the side. Ignoring his surprised face, she walked away from the stage area. He called after her, something about a tab, but she kept walking. She forced her way through the crowd that the bar's owner was now trying to wrangle together for last call while they tried to grab and talk to her. Finally, she found the front door. Nathan was still trailing behind her with a hand on her hip.

"Oh man." She groaned, pulling her hand from her partner's grip and wiping it across her forehead.

"That sure was something." He commented.

"That it was." Chuckling, she turned to him. He was standing there, staring at her like she was the only thing that existed. "Thanks for doing that with me."

Nathan stepped forward and instantly raised a hand to cup her jaw. "I told you that I'd do anything for you."

Audrey tilted her face up towards his. Did she trust him? Without a doubt. Did she love him? Absolutely. "Catch me?" She breathed out.

It wasn't a literal question, they both knew. But to Nathan, it didn't matter. He would always be there for his partner. For his love. For Audrey. "Always." He answered.

* * *

Simple and cute, just moving us along. Let me know what you think! Things will progress, I promise!


	10. Chapter 10

Ahh! I'm so so so sorry that this took so long. Here you go!

* * *

Audrey wasted no time in pressing her lips to his.

The next thing she knew, he was pulling her up the wooden stairs and into her loft. She pushed the leather jacket from his taut frame and he ripped through her thin blouse. His hands tangled in her hair. Her gasps rang like music to his ears.

They were standing together, as close as possible with limbs intertwined and hands roaming. Then they were on the bed, guns and badges and clothes missing with no care in the world.

Her hands couldn't get enough of his firm muscles, his smooth chest, his bony hips. His skin was on fire, his nerves dancing with excitement. She was dripping with ecstasy and he was hard in all the right places.

They were spouting unintelligible phrases, a cacophony of names and praises and directions and expletives.

Nathan paused for a moment, just a moment, and asked her if this is what she really wanted.

Audrey answered yes as loudly as she could.

Swiftly, they joined their bodies together as one, and all was right with the world.

When Audrey awoke, everything was strangely muddled. Her head was heavy and she couldn't lift it from the pillow. Slowly, she attempted to open her eyes. A beam of light fell across her face from a nearby window and she squeezed her eyes shut to avoid them. She turned her head to the side and tucked it into the bed. As she did so, her forehead knocked into something.

Her eyes burst open again, this time landing on the face in front of hers. She would have panicked, had the long nose and prominent chin not been easily identifiable. Her eyes drifted over his relaxed eyelids, his scruffy jaw.

Nathan.

She was in bed with Nathan.

She was naked and in bed with Nathan.

She had gotten drunk with Nathan.

She had gone to bed with Nathan.

She had done… things… with Nathan.

His name spun around and around in her head, through the aching haze of her hangover. Her body was pressed up against his beneath the sheets, and his arms were around her.

Audrey gasped as his embrace tightened.

Nathan's pale blue eyes met hers and he smiled sleepily. "Mornin'." His eyes fluttered closed again. He took a deep breath and relaxed deeper into the bed.

Audrey stared at him. "Nathan." She eventually whispered.

His eyes opened again, with a sharper focus this time. "Audrey." He murmured in response.

She didn't know what to say. "Hi."

"Hi." He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else.

"Well, last night was…" How could she possibly describe it?

Nathan's body tensed. "I'm sorry." He started to pull his arm off of her waist.

Audrey reached out and grabbed on to him, keeping him close. "Sorry for what?"

His cheeks turned bright red and he looked at her sheepishly. "For last night?" He sounded unsure of himself, but he kept going. "I'm not sure what exactly happened last night, but I didn't mean to upset you or make you uncomfortable or force you into anything. So we can just forget this ever happened, right?"

The blonde frowned. "Do you… do you not remember what happened last night?"

"No, no, no!" Immediately, he shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean. Of course I do. I remember every bit of it." He blushed even harder.

"Do you regret that it happened?" She tried to keep a straight face. On the inside, she was worried. Maybe she had been wrong all along about the signals she thought she had been getting from him. Maybe he did just think of her as his partner, and nothing more. Maybe last night had been an alcohol-infused insanity. But part of her was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he felt as she did.

He shook his head again. "Honestly, no. But I do regret anything I may have done to hurt you, because that was never my intention." He reached out and traced a finger across her exposed collarbone, and then snapped his hand away just as quickly as if he had been burned.

Audrey couldn't help but grin. "You didn't hurt me, Nathan." She lifted her hand to frame his face and watched the look of pure ecstasy cross his gaze. She would never not love the way he reacted to her touch. "And I don't want to forget what happened." She paused, tilting her head down and shielding her face. "I would like to get rid of this hangover though." She joked.

"Aww," Nathan cooed, reaching up to run a hand through her hair.

She peeked up to glare at him. "Not that this is anything you have to worry about." He chucked as they both remembered their conversation the night before about the connections between his Trouble and alcohol. Having no hangovers, at least no pain sensed from them, was a perk. "I feel like a college student who just had her first rager. I haven't had a hangover like this in years."

"Poor Audrey."

It hadn't escaped her notice that he had called her Audrey twice this morning already, instead of Parker. It wasn't that she cared either way, but it definitely felt as if it was representative of some sort of shift in their relationship. She pointed this out to him, but he just shrugged. "I don't know. Audrey just feels more fitting right now, I guess."

She nodded in understanding, but then stopped and clutched her head in her hands. "Okay, yeah, this headache is great."

Nathan snapped into action. "Do you want me to get you some pain meds?" He didn't even wait for a response before turning and rolling out of the bed. He strode through the door that led to her bathroom, rooted around through her cabinets, and then came back with two Tylenol liquid-gels in one hand and a small glass of water in the other. He stood against the side of the bed and held them out to her.

Audrey couldn't stop her gaze from drifting down his chest and to the currently uncovered appendage between his legs.

Curiously, Nathan followed her gaze, and then cursed. "Shit, I am definitely not wearing clothes right now, am I?"

Audrey shook her head. Subconsciously, she licked her lips. His dick twitched and she felt a wave of heat flood through her body.

After another awkward moment, she pulled her body up into a seated position. She made sure to wrap the sheet around her torso and chest while also leaning back enough to keep her head out of the direct sunlight. She reached out for the medicine and gladly swallowed it down.

Her partner slid back into bed beside her and covered himself up with the sheet. "So, uhh…" He coughed to clear his throat. "What do we do now?"

"We don't have to go into work today, do we?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Even if we did, I think you could convince the Chief to give you the day off."

"Oh?" She smirked at him. "And how do you suppose I would do that?"

"You're wily," he smirked back. "You could come up with something."

Audrey scooted closer to Nathan. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest as she leaned forward and slipped a hand onto his thigh. "Something like this?" She trailed her fingertips upward, nearing his hip.

Nathan breath stuttered out and he nodded. "Yeah. Something like that." Taking advantage of their closeness, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Her hand slid up his chest, roaming over as much bare skin as she could find and reach while they kissed. When he slithered his tongue against her bottom lip, they began kissing more passionately and her hand drifted lower.

She felt Nathan's body tense beside hers as she began to wrap her fingers around his hardening appendage.

The moment was broken as a loud knock sounded from her front door.

"Wakey wakey, Officer Parker." A cheerful voice came through, piercing through her happiness.

Nathan pulled his mouth from hers and fell back against the headboard. "Fuck."

Audrey groaned and reluctantly pulled away from her partner. She grabbed the robe hanging from the hook on the wall and wrapped it around her body. She shuffled over to the front door and pulled it open slightly.

The cold air hit her, making her body shiver and her muscles ache. She squinted through the bright sunlight and her eyes focused on Duke's smiling face.

"Good morning!" He exclaimed. "How are you doing today?"

She glared at him. "Well you just dragged me out of bed, so what do you think?"

He almost looked upset, but then ended up laughing. "Well, hey, I don't suppose you've seen the Tin Man around, have you?" He grabbed the door out of her hands and pulled it open. She gaped, trying to keep him from walking in, but he didn't seem to notice. Duke strode past her into the apartment, still chattering. "You see, he was a bit out of it last night and his Bronco is still in the parking lot so—"

He spun around and caught sight of the naked man sitting in Audrey's bed. Slowly, he looked back and forth between the two.

Then he whistled loudly. "I would say I didn't see this coming but… I totally did. Good on you two lovebirds. You finally admitted it, eh?"

"Duke." Nathan growled. "Get out."

"Oooh, sorry, was I interrupting something?" Duke's eyes widened, and he had the audacity to face an apologetic look. He turned to Audrey. "I just wanted to check on you after things got a little, you know, wild last night. But it seems as though you're just fine. Fully satisfied, I'd say."

Audrey reached out and placed her hands on Duke's shoulders. She pushed him toward the door. "That's enough, Duke. Thanks for checking up on us. We're fine. Goodbye now."

"Make sure you use—" His voice was cut off by the slamming and locking of the door, although they both knew what he was trying to say.

An awkward silence filled the room until Nathan held his hand out to his partner.

"Come back to bed?" he asked.

Audrey smiled and nodded. "Always." She walked over to the bed, shredding the robe along the way. She slid in beside Nathan and pressed her lips to his.

* * *

Okay, well, that was cute. This might be it for this story, honestly. I just wanted to write some song-focused fluff for my OTP. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


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